Unravel
by MrJettBlack
Summary: AU: Five years after the events of What We Must Endure; Mifune and Black Star are given incredible information and power with it. Their mission is top secret and they must succeed at all costs. The target is someone they know very well, will they manage? Danger around every corner will they survive to tell the tale? Warning: Character death and minor language.
1. Old Memories

xXx

* * *

It has been five years since the fateful day that changed them forever. Brandon and Mifune were now a part of a huge company that worked as a defense contractor for the same military they used to be a part of. Maka had found her niche in New York as a writer sharing an apartment with her best friend Tsubaki when she was on leave. Spirit couldn't adjust after leaving the military and eventually found his way into poverty and knew nothing else. Derrick Clark Sr., had taken control of the special forces since his release from incarceration, nothing was the same yet nothing changed.

* * *

"So from Vice Admiral in the United States Navy to a COO in one of the largest private sector defense contractor companies in the world." Clark groaned as he sat in front of Mifune, like he was an old buddy "You know, our kind just doesn't know how to leave the scene that easily."

"It's been five years Derrick, nothing is the same as it used to be. We've all grown so much and changed over this long period of time. Could you possibly believe it that Brandon is one of my highest rated field testers." Mifune cocked a grin towards Derrick, it had been a long time since they've seen each other. It should have been longer, but with many recent events that had taken place within the Navy, Derrick Clark Sr. had been released from confinement to direct the Navy SEAL teams once again.

"So You have Mark Clayton as your second in command and you yourself heading up the sole command of the entire SEAL team operations. How does that seem to make sense in your mind?" Mifune looked at Clark with cold, calculating eyes. The two men were on a battlefront of their own neither willing to surrender any ground.

"Well you see, it's no where near as dangerous as it was five years ago, seeing as the war with Brazil and many of the terrorist threats have ended we're in a standstill for peace." The decorated officer gloated to his former comrade, smacking his hand on the desk.

"I don't care how you try to rationalize it! Your own son died not even six years ago! Here you are leading some other person's son to a similar fate! Do you see the hypocrisy?" Mifune looked at Clark enraged, nothing could have set him off easier than the father of his good friend sitting in his office.

"I see our conversation is as good as done here isn't it, Vice Admiral Leon?" Clark sighed as he slowly stood up from his seat and quickly excused himself from the rather large corner office.

"I'm not fucking Vice Admiral Leon, you dick head..." Mifune groaned sitting back in his chair finally "If you want to call me something other than Mifune call me Samurai...at least then it'll be like your good ole days.."

* * *

"Spirit, you look like hell.." A cloaked man said walking up on the retired naval captain, who was lying on the side of a road, the years haven't been well to him. Homeless, jobless, and most importantly, daughterless.

"I don't know who you are bub, but you might not want to deal with me..I'm no good." The red haired man groaned trying to turn away from the dark figure standing directly above him.

"We both know you're not good, by any stretch of the imagination. How many men did you kill under your command?" The man bent over Spirit "Let's see, Soul? Harvar? Kid? Should I go on? All of these are your fault.."

"Who the hell do you think you are!? You can't accuse me of this without even knowing me you piece of shit! I'll fuckin' kill you if you ever bring any of that up again!" Spirit shot up from his sitting position and swung his hand towards the shadowed stranger. Knocking the large jacket off to reveal bright silver and gray hair.

"Oh are you surprised Spirit, seeing your old friend? Did you miss General Stein?" Stein stood up fully to look spirit directly in the eyes. The two men squared off, Stein hadn't lost a beat in five years where as Spirit was a broken down and beat up instrument of war.

"Old friend, let me help you. Your retirement doesn't have to be a permanent thing, the Navy does need a desk lacky around the rank of Captain I believe." Stein grinned towards his comrade and friend.

"After Kid...after that team I don't think I could ever go back to that life, it's just too tragic even for me. My hands aren't nearly as stained with blood as yours are Frank." Spirit just looked at him desperation in his eyes, but also a sense of hopelessness.

"So what of Kid, sure it was a tragic misfortune, but that blood is not on your hands. That team was disband and they were all discharged. I doubt any of them even remember you...if any of them are still alive after all of that went down." Stein looked Spirit dead on and couldn't believe the man he could see.

* * *

Bright sunny, it was usual for the west coast. Brandon got used to the bright and warm California sun. He could relax three days of his seven day week. Nothing was ever too hard for him here, he was living a dream. He slung his duffel bag over his left shoulder, grabbed his keys and locked the apartment door behind him. He's grown very accustomed to not having to look over his shoulder with every movement he made, of course that's probably why he missed the shadowed figure a ways down the hall.

He walked slowly down the hall towards the elevator never paying any attention to the mysterious figure that was slowly creeping up behind him. Perhaps he'd gone soft over the years that they've adapted to civilian life, perhaps he just didn't want to pay attention to the figure. His mind was peaceful and complacent. He tapped the button and that's when it hit him, the feeling of a presence, he swung around and snapped the button on his side holster, before he could react anymore the figure was in his face.

"Military police, MP, MP, MP! The figure screamed as Brandon began to relax just a bit more, "Master Chief Petty Officer Stern, I've been sent to ask if you would accompany me back to Coronado."

"So you're not just military police..who are you really?" Brandon looked at him with intent curiosity, remaining stiff and attentive, hand on his gun and ready "I'll give you three to answer me then I will unholster my sidearm."

"I'm not military police at all, I am an intel officer with team 6, Cal Burn aka Caliber, rank of Warrant Officer Grade 4." The man stood his ground under the pressure that Brandon was giving him "So I would suggest you ease down, that wouldn't end well at all."

The man took down his hood, revealing short golden, brown locks of hair and a scar under his eye. Bright blue eyes pierced Brandon right down to his core. The blue haired former SEAL couldn't easily back down but he knew when he was outmatched and this man clearly had the edge on a very rusty Star. The two men stared down each other intensely, unwavering. They stood less than a foot apart like this for what seemed to be hours, in which the reality was only five minutes, if not less.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you say it here. I have no intention on going back to Coronado, or do I want to go back to Washington." His glare sharpened, the tension between the two palpable "If you're from 6 that means you replaced me and my friends. Right?"

"Since the disband of your team it was turned into an intelligence team, we gather recon and nothing else. It is the most prestigious team to be a part of, you guys made it that way Star..." Cal smirked lowering his collar to reveal his trident grasped by the gold eagle.

"If I have to tell you here, I'll have to make it in a place more secretive, this information is sensitive and can only be disclosed to you and one other person outside of the military." The brown haired officer nearly whispered.

* * *

The day was wrapping up, Mifune sat at his desk in the same space he had just shared with Derrick Clark Sr., but only after so many hours did he notice sneaky devil himself had left a plain white envelope. The letter was sealed and hadn't been disturbed since it was given to him, which was a good thing considering it was coming from Clark, it most likely had something sensitive in it. He ripped quietly and quickly at the corner of the white, paper, enclosure. Pulling out a tiny piece of paper to which he unfolded and read the words silently to himself, placing the paper back within the envelope. He slowly stood up from this seat and walked towards the closest wall of his office and placed the letter within the shredder. He then dug the shreds of paper out and repeated the process two more times.

"Foolish old man, did he really thing I would decline his offer?' Mifune sighed, flicking the lights off as he left his office for the day, locking the door behind him.

The sun was beginning to set, he hadn't done much at all today, but he felt accomplished in some aspect. He looked at his watch it was just after seven in the evening. Plenty of day left for him and he needed to make a visit before he went home. He removed his tie and loosened the top of his white dress shirt. Walking down the street to an older coffee shop that he liked frequenting when he had the time in his busy schedule.

Mifune walked in scanning the shop for anyone else, finding Maka sitting in the corner as she did every day. The young blonde girl always wore the same sad expression on her face, whether it be from lack of interest in everything in her life or just what had happened to everyone in the last five years, she was a shell of what existed even during her service. There was no smile, there were no laughs, she simply wasn't happy. His expression softened as he made his way to the table to sit with his regular nightly company.

"Hey there, how's my little author doing?" Mifune smiled towards Maka whose blank expression pained him. Her laptop open, serving as a divider between the two of them. Her now ice cold cup of coffee being the only other thing on the table.

"Hey Mifune, is it that late already? I feel like today has just gone by so quick, so how was work?" Maka droned out the normal response she always gave him, to which he felt like changing up his usual response.

"Well Derrick Clark Sr. came by to visit me in my office today, I can only imagine he's got some sort of scheme concocted to fish me back into service." The blond haired man laughed, waving for a waitress towards the table.

"Clark huh, what did he want from you? I haven't heard from him or anyone else in what seems like forever. I haven't even gotten an email from Tsubaki in a good three months." Her face was long, her expression was saddening. Mifune just tried to cheer her up every day but nothing would cheer her up like a shark toothed grin from a certain guy always managed to do.

"Oh he just wanted to talk to me, I haven't seen him for the better part of seven years I believe, we had a lot off catching up to do. I got a very late congratulations on my promotion." He offered some sort of bait, hoping she might take it, but she wasn't interested. 'Time to offer some juicier bait.' Mifune thought to himself.

"He was interested in knowing where Brandon was currently located, but wouldn't tell me why. I wonder why that is." He offered this up to her, even though the conversation of Brandon never really took place.

"Couldn't he just super sleuth the information he wanted to know? Isn't he all powerful still? Those guys really piss me off. High brass is the reason I'm miserable..." Maka didn't take the bait but at least she opened up just a bit more this time, next line.

"You know Clayton took a demotion because he didn't want to hinder Clark's career goals, pretty admirable wouldn't you agree." He smirked looking at how her eye twitched, he pissed her off with that line and he was going to get an earful.

"Oh yeah, really god damn admirable, one killer steps off the pedestal and let's the bigger monster back on, I mean come on his name is the Lord of Death, or Death for short. What do you expect his career goal to be!" Maka retorted quickly and snidely, she hated all of the Navy now and wanted nothing to do with the higher brass, her father was no exception. Despite him retiring after everything that had happened she couldn't bring herself to face him let alone even speak to him over a phone.

The sun began to set quicker, the light slowly dying away washing the large buildings in an orange glow. New York city never did sleep, but the city looked amazing when it hit this time of day. He couldn't help but congratulate himself on the progress he had made with her today. It was probably the most she had spoke to him in the last four years, following their discharge from the Navy. His next goal was to convince her to speak with her father but that one was easier said that done.

* * *

"So that would be my mission if I accept?" Brandon continued glaring bullets at Cal, both men not willing to relinquish any ground.

"That would be the mission, one time deal after that you can leave or you can stay. Either way the top brass wouldn't twist your arm. Succeed and be rewarded, unfortunately there is no reward for failure." Cal finished briefing him with as much information as he could.

"Does it require just myself or will I be reassigned to Mifune?" The blue haired man looked down at his sidearm, some of it made sense but he hated the sound of everything, he just wanted a quick get away.

"If Vice Admiral Leon does accept the invitation he would be appointed commander of team 6 entirely, you would be commanding a squadron with myself and four other men." Cal flipped through some papers in his classified folder "This means you would not work directly beside Leon, but would follow the orders that he gives out, you would be leading the squadron much like he did back then."

"Well I don't feel as you've given me much of an option so I guess I'll take the invitation and the nice promotion it comes with, and what did you say the promotion was again?" He shrugged, shaking his head lazily.

"You would be joining back with us as an O-3, Lieutenant." The blue eyed man stated "Effectively a three rank temporary promotion, and depending on your success you either keep it or lose your promotion entirely."

"Deal..." Brandon extended his hand towards the man, "As long as you'll call me Black Star."

* * *

AN: The sequel to What We Must Endure, if you haven't read it please do so, Unravel will make much more sense. There were a lot of unanswered questions in What We Must Endure, and Unravel will ask new questions and provide answers to everything by the final chapter. So I hope you all enjoy the journey and as always, reviews with constructive criticism are always welcome. They help me become the author I want to be and the author you want to read!

Thanks!

-Jett


	2. Supernova

xXx

* * *

Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.

-Jean Cocteau

* * *

Brandon walked into the barracks, distant memories began to well up as he walked quickly through the beat down lockers. Washington D.C., the home to team 6 and his home for a long time. He walked through the barracks and past the other buildings to a small private building marked simply with a skull. He swiped his key card and the door buzzed open, and he walked into the now brightly lit living quarters. Beyond the newly renovated he could vaguely make out the old door that housed his former teams private living quarters. The door has long since been untouched, and the nameplates still remained on the door. It served as a sobering reminder to the team that they weren't just handed the position. People fought to make the team the prestigious place it is.

The blue haired man walked slowly towards the old door, hesitantly touching the pin pad and handle. It was completely dusted over the only thing in the entire building that wasn't pristine. He touched the nameplates on the door as well. Carefully running his fingers over each letter of each name. He stopped as he finished Soul's name plate Sullivan Evans. Five years had passed, before he knew it everything had changed and no one even knew of their sacrifices, yet here he was back in the same building. This time he was with a different team. He could only hope that Mifune would take the invitation much like he had, of course he had no way of communicating with the man now that he had taken it himself.

"So Star, what do you think of the renovated building?" Caliber looked over towards him, his curiosity getting the best of him finally. "Pretty nice isn't it? We kept the door intact and everything inside the room is as it was the day you guys were discharged. No one has been in that room for five years."

"To be quite honest none of us can even open that door, we don't know the combination to it." He finished as he awaited Star's words.

"The door is named death's door for a reason. When we were all stationed here, if we were called out on an assignment, the target was opening death's door." Star spoke softly, he ran his hand over the numbers on the pin pad. "To open this door meant you either were going to die or you were the one that was going to make it happen."

"So tell me, can you open the door? Will you?" Cal looked Star straight in the eyes, it was a difficult question and he wanted to know what was on the other side. "Just so you know, nothing was ever taken out of that room. No personal effects."

"No." It was a simple enough answer to Cal's question and the only answer that was needed, with it Star walked out of the building towards the docks he had missed so much.

* * *

"Alright, since we've assembled the team, this mission is as fragile as glass, if you're caught we cannot assist you in any way." Admiral Clayton headed the briefing, standing just a head of their Fleet Admiral Clark. "We have selected this special group, task force, if you will to be lead by Vice Admiral Mifune Leon."

The personnel list came up showing every operatives name who would be taking part in this mission, it was a short list. Other than the listed men only the highest of brass even knew about this mission. Operation Supernova was a go, lead by Brandon's former squad leader, now it was his turn to lead a squad into hell.

"Alright, Star, your target is simple. His name is Reagan Pearson, he's the CEO and commander-in-chief of Aspiron Mercenary Group. They've been a very troublesome group in the past year or two, and have cooked up wars in many countries. Our goal is to take out the entire organization before they can do any more damage." Clayton continued as they looked through different parts of slide pictures of their objective.

"Pearson is known simply as Indigo within the organization, his top two executives being simply known as Black and Silver, we do not have positive identification on any of these men other than Pearson. If you make contact with any of them your orders are simply, shoot to kill. They're all highly trained ex-military some may even be more talented than our men. Extreme caution advised on all of these men." He carried through, the briefing was long and arduous.

"Pearson was once one of you, a proud member of the Navy SEALs, he held the rank of Captain during his service, and was the leader of hundreds of successful operations. He cannot under any circumstances know we're coming, because he will be able to out play us. His company is small but his experience is vast" The projector went black and Clayton finished wrapping up the last couple details.

"Question, sir?" Brandon finally decided to speak, "if we don't know the identities of any of their operatives aren't we at a major disadvantage?"

"Good question Star, yes we're at a severe disadvantage, but we are strong and proud men. Black and Silver are the two biggest threats to our men, our intel suggests that these men are Navy SEAL trained." Unease began to rustle through the soldiers gathered in the small conference room.

That's when it hit, the shot heard around the world, so to speak. A thundering sound echoed through out the room and the surrounding area, Clayton dropped to the ground hard, it was a gunshot. The intercom system chimed on in the conference room where they were located.

"We know you're coming, we're prepared. Hit us with everything you've got. My condolences, Silver." A gruff voice rang through the intercom and then went silent.

* * *

"Silver! That was one hell of a welcome call! What was that? Nearly a two mile shot?" A young man stood upon a mountain with his comrade surveying the landscape.

"Sage, you've got a lot to learn, you said you were in the Marines right? They don't teach you that shit there." The rough looking man chuckled as they began to ascend towards the peak of the mountain.

* * *

Admiral Mark Clayton was dead before he even hit the ground, it was a shock to them all. What kind of men were they taking on? If the shot had come off base, it was a long one. If it had come from on base they had the ability to access even the most secretive locations. This company was nothing to be taken lightly. Not only did they fire an incredibly large caliber round to kill the Admiral, but they did it by firing through the roof of a building.

"I can't believe the shit we're getting into this man is unlike anything we've trained in the Navy, hell this man might be even more than we've seen throughout the world's military." Clark trembled as he spoke, no where was safe for the men, if they were going to avenge Clayton they would have to do it now or never.

With no certain direction to point their boots the Supernova Joint Operations team geared up and loaded into their helicopter for transportation. It's going to be a fire fight in New York, no one knows any certains about his mission, they don't even know about their own chances of living. If Aspiron does possess a sniper with those abilities they'll be dead before they even get to the target, but then again that wouldn't be fun for the world leader Aspiron.

Brandon laced up his boots one last time, or so he hoped. Mifune stood over him, pain and sorrow in both of their faces, this mission was stupidly dangerous and yet they decided to do it. Was it the reward? The recognition or was it just because they had something to prove to whoever would listen. Brandon stood up fastening in all of his gear, grabbing his new M4 Carbine from Mifune, who had no words to say just a simple nod in exchange.

"If you get the chance, pull the trigger yourself Star...make all of us proud you got that?" Mifune finally spoke, patting Star's shoulder.

"Caliber, Fire, Wind, Pat, and Jack..everyone ready? Let's get this bird airborne Jack!" The blue haired squad commander motioned to Sid who was sitting in the pilot's seat of the uh-60 black hawk helicopter.

* * *

Infiltration, they were about two kilometers from Aspiron headquarters, they had pretty much been invited. The small tactical force was all they would be using, they were facing a small standing army of about fifty men, the best of the best.

Boots on the ground just outside of the heavily armed company, this is the first operation on US soil in a very long time, they didn't have any room for error. Aspiron was fully militarized, they realized that when gun fire began crackling and they had been spotted. Foot soldiers of Aspiron were flooding out of the building armed to the teeth. They could see rank patches on the men's uniforms. These soldiers were all flies compared to what they were in for when they finally made it inside.

It hit the Supernova team as they entered the one hundred meter mark, they caught a glimpse of a man, who wasn't in the foot soldier mix, he wore a maroon rank patch with an indistinctive mark. The explosion was deafening, they had come closer and the traps were being set off, foot soldiers dropping like flies now. Star lead the team brilliantly, one by one, fifty meters left.

"Pat circle around with Fire and eliminate all targets." Star called as he and Wind broke off towards the other side, Jackknife and Caliber posted up in the center of the field and held down fire to support their comrades.

Everything was going smoothly, almost too smooth for Star's comfort. He was beginning to think they weren't going to find their target or any VIPs during this operation, because of the fact that this was too easy. In every mission he had been on with the old team if it were too easy then it wasn't a success. Then the startling realization hit him, a large caliber high powered rifle blast, dirt kicked up. This was nothing to be alarmed about or at least it shouldn't have been, if the shot hadn't come from behind him and his team.

* * *

"Admiral Clark! Vice Admiral Leon! We've just received intel from the CIA, they've confirmed a few of the high VIPs within Aspiron!" A low ranking Naval officer ran in the room, handing Clark the report.

"So Black and Silver are still unknown as expected, but we have a maroon, sage, and gray. Maroon AKA Second Lieutenant Cameron Schutz, Marine demolition expert. Sage AKA Sergeant Major Frederick Reyes, Marine marksmen. Gray AKA Sergeant Eiram Stone...oh god.." Clark drew off the last sentence, his face significantly paling.

"What is it Clark?" Mifune's face growing with worry, trying to look at the paper to no avail.

"Gray AKA Sergeant Eiram Stone, Army Delta Force operator..." Clark choked out, they knew they were in for one hell of a fight if their foot soldiers were Delta Force.

"So we're looking at highly trained and extremely deadly individuals, and we can't warn our men at all." Mifune broke the silence, pale face mirroring Clark's.

"Pretty much, there is more here, but they're speculating the identity of Black and Silver and you aren't going to like what they have for Silver." Clark continued reading off of the paper he held "Silver is a highly trained independent individual, top class sniper and even more deadly than many counterparts in the military. They suspect him to be a SEAL trained sniper, fairly recent as well."

* * *

"Move in, enemy fire on our six!" Star chimed in through the ear piece of every member as the sniper shots rang in from behind, this sniper was toying with his team, and he hated it. They were being lead into the building not away from.

They entered the building under the setting sun, they were frantic they were all still alive but they were pinned. The team of elites were afraid for their lives. They had no outside contact and couldn't seem to reach command. The only thoughts running through their heads were the worst. The silence was hard, Star could feel the pressure to act, but there were no right calls.

"Hey Star, you should consider using a different frequency. If you use that old one, enemies might figure it out and listen to your radio chatter." A familiar voice rang through the earpieces "It might just get you killed" as a sniper shot rang through the building, appearing to be another miss. Star turned around to see, Caliber falling, death loomed over them as the unknown sniper just may have claimed his second victim.

"Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound, he'll live. You may want to forget about Aspiron though, we aren't a joke Brandon...Black is at the top floor of the complex if you dare challenge him. You make it up there without being shot by me and beat him and we'll consider it your victory. Have fun." The same voice offered some sort of comfort, but also created more questions than answers.

Star looked over his worn out and tired team, he had no idea what he should do. Apsiron was playing games with him and his team and there was nothing he could even do about it. This was reminiscent of the missions him and his old team went on, but this time they were at a much greater disadvantage. This team wasn't nearly as cohesive as his last, or experienced. He was working with another SEAL, a Ranger, an Air Force Pilot, and two CIA agents...this wasn't his normal team. Joint operations sure, but this was just stupid. Sid had been through thick and thin with him and his team, Caliber was an up and coming newbie, Pat was a newly promoted Ranger and these agents just seemed to be hiding something.

This was going to be even more ugly before it got any prettier Star already knew that, but what could he do. He thought as another shot rang through the building, deafening the entire team.

"Time is ticking squad commander, time to make your decision, next one will be that pretty lady beside you." The sniper's voice filled their ears. "If you want to retreat then do it, I won't stop you. Fuckin' cowards."

* * *

Maka was sitting in her corner of the coffee shop looking towards the setting sun of the skyline, she looked determined, but wasn't even sure why herself. Her laptop sat open in front of her, the final line written in her book, "I don't know where my heart is anymore, but I hope one day to unravel the truth among all the lies." The young blonde shut her laptop glancing quickly out the window again.

She knew the answer to her own question, at least somewhat in her mind. She had always wanted that stupid silver haired sniper, but never knew how to tell him. She finally figured out how to say it one last time, since he had given up on having a normal life. She would kill him.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the lengthy time for an update, these chapters are taking significant research and planning to pull out. Anyhow, please leave a review constructive criticism is always helpful and welcome!

-Jett


	3. Operation Sundown

xXx

The sun beat down brightly on the new base camp of Aspiron. One building, five tents, and one shack, the United States military did accomplish part of their goal. Plans were set back, but it wasn't a complete loss. Mr. Pearson, was not with the organization at the moment, he was in a complete black out hiding. This left the man only known as Black in charge, with his left hand man Silver. The men were very calm and calculating, they didn't want to cause any further problems between themselves and the military. That said they had many contracts open with Ireland, Germany, and their biggest project yet Brazil.

Ireland, wanted a coup, the current government was weak. Something that Pearson's company can change, of course that would come at a cost. Pearson commanded six companies of soldiers, totaling almost 1,200 men. A small job like this would only require one hundred at most. Germany was a bit different, they wanted national defense. They were unsure of their global seat within the United Nations. They didn't want to lose everything they had finally established, with many big name countries on the outside of their borders. This job would be a massive toll on their soldiers and the numbers.

Brazil, just out of a former war needed help rebuilding a nation. They needed people to train new soldiers. What better men to train soldiers than the specialists that Aspiron enlisted. Brazil was a huge project, something that may have been considered before their untimely conflict with the Supernova task force. In that unfortunate battle they lost almost one hundred and fifty men. If they were to pick from any of these tasks they would have to go with Germany and protect what could become their biggest ally.

* * *

Maka laced up her old combat boots, she had just reentered the military, but this time she wasn't with the Navy, she was granted a transfer and was awarded a prestigious spot in the Army with the 75th Ranger regiment, since General Stein had so graciously opened up his doors to women in the past five years.

This was nothing like the Navy, she wasn't being tested, every bit of her body. Legs, arms, back there wasn't a single part of her that wasn't sore. Staff Sergeant Thomas Plach made sure Maka was battle ready, because she was joining an elite group. Even more importantly she was joining a very important task force. Hand picked by Major General Stein, he had joined the Supernova task force, with the sole agenda of acquiring a target for personal amusement.

She had the ability to freely walk the Fort Benning base, she was at Stein's side, every beck and call. They were leaving for Washington tomorrow, both Maka and Stein had to be ready for anything, he had already given one of his soldiers to the effort and he was about ready to put his best friend's daughter into the same hellhole.

* * *

"Boots on the ground in five! We're dropping into so rough terrain French-German border." A soldier screamed in olive combat fatigues, he had a simple rank patch on his shoulder with a silver arm band right below.

"No immediate actions, we'll be staring down the barrel of the French, British, and American military" Pulling the strap tight on his rifle against his chest "NATO will try to tear us apart, they have a standing army of over five thousand in this area alone. GO! GO! GO!"

The men dove from the plane by twos, Aspiron had situated over one thousand soldiers on the French-German border, they didn't want to go to war but they may not have a choice, with that said they knew the Supernova task force wouldn't be far behind. NATO Special Forces never included the United States, they were too smug now a days. So they had to be watchful of a rogue group of soldiers.

Free falling was a rush as always for any soldier no matter how many times they had performed the action, parachuting by the same token was also more dangerous than many things, but the group of men that were a part of this mission were no greenhorns to the matter.

Their main goal was just to defend, they advised the German military to not get involved if not necessary. No one knew if they would strike but they certainly didn't want to wait to find out, so they would sit at the ready until the army decided to either stand down or attack. The first time in the history of Aspiron they were fighting to avoid a war not create one, but Silver at the top brass at Aspiron wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

The air was hot and stagnant, everything felt tacky with the humidity at an all time high. The officers of the special Supernova task force rushed towards the plane awaiting them, they were leaving for Paris today, they had been given good intel that Aspiron's top brass had posted up on the German-French border. They wanted to get a good start on them, they were going to fly out from Paris on the next day to Berlin and hopefully circle in from behind to take them by surprise.

The idea was to use the NATO forces as a decoy and to their advantage in hopefully taking out Black and Silver, since all new information on Pearson had gone silent since the attack on their HQ. Fire and Wind, or known by their civilian names as Alexi Ash and Daniel Martin we're flying in ahead of them to make contact with German allies in hopes to aid in their mission.

"Major General Stein, it's been a while, I can't believe you've left your post at Fort Benning to be here with us." Mifune spoke finally breaking the silence.

"Yes indeed it has Vice Admiral Leon, I believe the last time I saw you you were a Captain." Stein groaned, as always he was utterly uninterested in anything.

"Things are nearly the same, except this time you're on the other side of the ear piece, Samurai." Clark spoke now to Mifune "I'm actually hopeful now that you're with us Stein, you've worked your way up through the ranks as of late, from Brigadier to Major in three short years."

"Yes, I'm hoping to make Lieutenant General after this operation, General Black had mentioned something good if we're successful." Stein grinned at they strode quickly down the long walkway.

"So you're telling me, if we get these guys, you'll get another star?" Mifune groaned, annoyed with Stein's zealous ploy.

* * *

"Alexi...this will all be over soon, Pearson isn't too far out of reach, Supernova has done well to distract everyone." Silver groaned as he opened his notepad, scanning different coordinates.

"Soul, I can't believe this three year long operation is almost over, I also can't believe you actually killed Admiral Clayton." Alexi, also known as white within Aspiron, or Fire to the Supernova task force.

"He was a prick, he had it coming. Anyhow, everything is in order with the German government then? I expect Supernova to be here by sunset so we can take down the standing army, and then I can go after Rhodes and Pearson." Soul removed the silver armband and changed into his United States fatigues, Aspiron was going down. It had taken them three long years to finally put this distraction to rest. But soon, only four short hours it would all be over.

"Supernova is just outside the perimeter all they're waiting for is Daniel to give the green light. You would be proud to see the amazing young leader Brandon has become. So what will you do? Will you reform the Team 6 task force with in the Navy, or will you move on to do something else?" The white haired man looked towards his counterpart.

"I haven't really decided, I'm considering taking the position that was offered to me in your firm, working with you unless of course you take the offer given to you by Fleet Admiral Clark." The shark-toothed man grinned as he waited patiently for the sun to set.

This would be the final night battle Aspiron got to experience, the NATO forces weren't just regular forces, they had a small standing army down in the valley, but the awesome thought was that the men were all special forces from many different countries. Germany was backing the Supernova task force on the other side, this would effectively sandwich the Aspiron group in the middle. Two special operators right in the middle of the chaos. Alexi Ash and Sullivan Evans, they were tasked with eliminating all of the VIP members of the mercenary group.

Soul would have to take out Black AKA Elias Rhodes and Indigo or Reagan Pearson, arguably the two hardest targets in the field as soon as the chaos broke out Soul would have to quickly dispatch of Black and then he would have to trek quickly towards Pearson's hide out. Alexi was tasked with eliminating Gold and Gray, or Elex Leon and Eiram Stone. They had considered Maroon of no use, he would more likely than not be taken out in crossfire.

"Special Operation Sundown is a go, Supernova task force is just over the horizon, we are locked and loaded." Soul called out on his SAT phone, to an unknown operator. "Fire and Snow commencing hostile take over."

* * *

Supernova broke the horizon and they could see the Aspiron camps perched on the side of the mountain. They could see the camps were under fire and everything was going down hill quick. The NATO group had demolished 60% of the standing army that Aspiron possessed. They were fleeing towards their own destruction, the Supernova task force was ready to pick off anyone that was related to Aspiron, if they were to put their guns down and surrender they would be taken as prisoners of war. Despite the situation not being a war at all, their advance went well being a member down on their team. Picking off strangling mercenaries one by one.

They were at the base of the mountain when Brandon heard it, a shot heard around the world so to speak. It was the same sound as the time Admiral Clayton had fallen, the shot went directly overhead and into the farmland behind. They could clearly see a massive explosion and a white smoke flare was deployed at the peak of the mountain. Aspiron had surrendered, but the more curious notion was why did Silver fire into the village right before their surrender.

The Supernova team began the ascent towards the final grounds, they were met with two very familiar faces as they reached the destination. These men were both donning the American flag, military patch.

"Brandon, Maka it's been a long time..." Soul stood upon a pile off guns in the middle of what was left of Aspiron's army. "I haven't seen you two in what...five years?" He grinned.

"Soul...you were working with us the entire time? You shot Cal on purpose? To get Maka assigned into the team didn't you?" Brandon looked at Soul dumbfounded, but he was completely in control of his thoughts.

"I didn't foresee her ever coming back into the service, but Cal knew too much and I didn't want him spoiling the fun" The sniper grinned even wider.

"So what was that shot when we were at the base of the mountain?" Maka asked finally breaking her silence.

"Barrett M107, .50 caliber, let's just say Pearson won't be walking away from that shot." Soul smirked and chuckled at his own morbid joke.

"Senior Field Agent Daniel Ash? How have you been? I haven't seen you in about three years is it?" Soul grinned towards the man who called himself Wind.

"Special Agent Evans, so what are your plans? Eden would like to know if you intend on staying with the agency or plan on returning to the Navy." Ash finally spoke after a long silence from the soft spoken young man.

"Well considering Mifune is due for promotion, I may as well go back and take the new flagship position within the Navy. It's nothing personal I love what you guys do. I just don't feel like the spy life is for me. I am a shoot and kill type of guy." The white haired agent spoke, finally looking over his shoulder towards the NATO forces closing in on their position quickly.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the long hiatus, I've been busy. I'll try to update more frequently but no promises! If you enjoyed this chapter so far please feel free to review it constructive criticism is always welcome! Thanks!

-Jett


	4. Unification of the SOF

xXx

The sun set on the brand new constructed Washington DC base, this base was a settlement base for Naval officers who had been given access to the elusive eagle and trident pin that only belonged to the proud men who had completed the BUDs training. It had originally been constructed for the men who were on leave and had in a quick time become an active personnel base, that housed the prestigious Special Operations Force with in the Navy SEALs, Admiral Leon was proud of their accomplishments back now six plus years ago, but he could have never foreseen the huge milestone they were hitting. Tomorrow was the promotion ceremony of a new flagship officer, and his new partner in commanding the Navy's SOF. It would be a good day on Clark Naval Base, not to be mistaken for being named after the current Fleet Admiral Clark, but his son "Kid" or Derrick Clark Jr.

Mifune looked towards the special barrack housing that held his now eight man team, so many improvements have been made over the years. He could remember when it was just four of them fighting to stay alive. This was a well oiled machine now that he has taken command of, with Clark leaving his post to be the figure head of the Naval Operations at the Pentagon. The following month they would be holding field tests to bring in two to four new operators from all different branches, the SOF would no longer be just a Navy only force. In collaboration with Lieutenant General Stein and Major General Newton of the Air Force they are turning the SOF into a powerhouse within the world.

* * *

Soul awoke early in the morning, he looked towards the window of his on base apartment, the commanders of the SOF are treated to many luxurious amenities including an incredible five story tall apartment building filled with many different activities. Soul just so happens to live at the top with his counterpart, Mifune. They take full advantage of their beautiful view. There are two apartments per floor totaling six in the building, with the ground floor being the lobby and security detail and then the second floor being all of their perks.

The white haired Naval Officer sluggishly walked out from his bedroom to look at the warm sunrise, glancing down briefly at the busy bodies of the base rushing about. It was only six in the morning and he knew today would be a good day, he slowly brushed his fingers through his snow white hair combing out the knots that were created by his rough sleeping patterns. Walking slowly into his kitchen and grabbing a glass of water he walked over to his phone and looked at the notifications that kept flickering. 'A Text?' He thought to himself, unlocking his phone with the finger print scanning device.

'Soul, I was hoping you would wake up earlier this morning. I wanted to see you before the ceremony and wish you an early congratulations from the the entire group, Tsubaki will be on the base for this today!' The rough looking man read the message, Maka never ceased to amaze him. One moment she wanted to kill him and now they're best friends again. He could never understand that girl, but he didn't care too much he liked how she was all over the place yet kept him totally grounded at the same time.

'Maka, if you can meet me at the gates I would love to see all of you before the ceremony.' He quickly tapped on his phone then rushed around to get everything together. He grabbed his dress whites and made sure he was ready for the day. No turning back and no coming back here until the end of the day he mentally told himself as he walked out the door and locked it behind him. As he quickly walked towards the elevator.

* * *

Soul was walking briskly the DC heat wasn't too bad this time of year, it was late summer coming to the end of August. The sun wasn't even overhead yet. He was making his way to the gate as he passed many people rushing around many stopped to salute him as he passed, which he either gate a salute back, a nod, or just chuckled. He wasn't quite up to speed with this high ranking officer notion yet.

He passed the final building on his way to the gates and he could see his group of friends standing by, following down the line he saw; Tsubaki, Brandon, Maka, Mifune, and he could faintly make out the last figure to be Alexi who were all waiting for him.

"Maka!" Soul called as he was within arm's distance grabbing her and wrapping his arms tightly around her, to the surprise of everyone including the young ash blonde officer.

"Hey there Soul, what's with the greeting?" She smiled up at him with a confused expression plastered on her face. "That glad to see me huh? It's only been a few months you know." She laughed as he released her.

"I have no idea, so what is the plan for today?" He laughed looking towards everyone else. It had been a long time since they had all taken the time to hang out.

"Well I was thinking hit up the popular spots of DC, we'll be seeing the president later in the day, I figured we could also stop by and see Admiral Clark since he's in town for this." Mifune glanced at his watch as he was speaking.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, I just want the ceremony to be over with, everyone is so on edge for no good reason, I'm just losing one rank insignia and gaining a new one. Is it really that big of a deal?" Soul tried to be as humble as possible.

"Soul, you're becoming the youngest Admiral in our nation's history. How is that not a big deal?" Alexi interrupted his friend's thoughts.

The group of officer's walked past the gates at the Clark Naval base, and out into the world. Soul couldn't believe he was back in this scene after almost five years away from it. This time it would be different, it would be completely different. No one would die on his watch, at least that was his plan.

* * *

Soul and Mifune walked past the security desk into a military hotel, they were visiting an old friend. Many of them were in town today, but this was an important one. They walked briskly to the elevator and entered it pressing the last button on the panel. Their ascent began, and ended quickly on the top floor, they arrived at a room with a plaque on the door. The plaque read Admiral Derrick Clark, Chief of Naval Operations. Soul's hand rose to the door and he timidly knocked.

"Come on in boys, I figured you would stop by today." Clark could be heard from inside the room, Mifune opened the door to see Clark sitting at a heavy wooden desk. He was looking over reports, presumably something that had to do with the new base and or new special operations force.

"How are you doing Clark, I haven't seen you since we were honorably discharged." Soul greeted him, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Yes, my little boy is growing up so fast, it seems like just last year you were promoted to the rank of Ensign." Clark spoke never looking up from his report "Today you'll be promoted and will achieve the honor of being the youngest ever Admiral in the United States."

"He doesn't realize just how big of a thing this is either, Soul thinks it's no big deal." Mifune spoke rather nonchalantly "I've tried explaining it to him over and over, but he just doesn't seem to care." He chuckled.

Clark finally broke his concentration on the report in front of him, and glanced up towards the two men. He gently closed the manila folder and set down his pen, standing up from his seat.

"Boy, my age is getting up there, you both need to cement your place within this base and the SOF. When I'm gone no one will protect you if you screw up, so I suggest you grow up really quick and learn." He looked very serious at this point "Once you make it to Chief of Naval Special Forces Operations you've only got two or four good years left, I want you to understand that, I am not sure who will be taking this position so if you want to keep your group together straighten the act and keep it clean. Got it?" He finished walking around the desk up to both of them.

"We'll do what we can Clark, but we can't promise that this force will exactly be a clean and tidy one. We'll be doing the dirty work the rest of the military can't do. We don't want to tarnish our names but we don't want to let anymore people die." Soul spoke up, which shocked both Mifune and Clark, he was usually soft spoken.

"Well then Rear Admiral Evans, I'll see you at the ceremony later today." Clark gave a small smirk but shook their hands and sent them on their way.

* * *

The sun was bright mid afternoon, Soul stood in front of the small crowd, his shoulder boards had already been changed. He was now a flagship officer of the United States Navy, and the vice commander of the SOF unit within the Navy. Soul stood with Admiral Mifune Leon, Admiral Derrick Clark, and Admiral Elizabeth Thompson. He was standing with three of the biggest brass in the branch that he knows of. Mifune, the commander of the Navy SOF Unit. Clark, the Chief of Naval Special Forces Operations. Thompson, the Chief of Naval Operations, all Naval operations.

If he was going to fuck something up it would be at this point, shaking hands with every high ranking official in the United States Military. 'Why did they even show up.' The white haired Admiral thought to himself. As they walked down from the stage as the ceremony ended and into the small gathering crowd.

The Admirals walked down into the greeting party, shoulder board to shoulder board. All eyes were on Elizabeth Thompson, the newly appointed Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations. She was unmistakably the sole reason the Navy's casualty reports were no where near that of any other branch. Sullivan Evans, the runt of the litter so to speak. A Navy officer who earned his trident and more important their single best sharpshooter in the branch was now a commander of the most prestigious group within the United States Military.

Sweat beaded up just at Soul's hairline, it was a hot day and he was nervous. His knuckles white from clenched fists and he didn't want to move or do anything wrong. He had made it this far and didn't want to look like an idiot at this point. He wanted to make it out of this life or death situation. Sink or swim was the only thing he could think. He could see Maka in the center of the crowd, the only person he wanted to see after this event was over with. His eyes locked on to her and only her. Nothing else was really on his mind.

* * *

Days after his promotion, Mifune and Soul walked into what they would consider command central at Clark Naval Base, home of the SOF. They walked towards the large conference table where they took their seats. Across from them sat Lieutenant General Stein and Colonel Butte and beside the Army representatives, were the Air Forces' Major General Ren Newton and Colonel Sid Barett. Three of the four branches were here. They just awaited two more members from their Marine counterpart. The Brigadier Generals Clay Grieves and Heath Richardson have decided not to show as of yet, they were never given a rightful place within the force only until just after the promotion ceremony of Sullivan Evans.

With recruiting done and dusted over the last couple days they knew exactly what kind of force they would be commanding; eight ranked commanding officers, four ranked squad commanders, twelve officers with outstanding special talents, and four pilots of exceeding qualifications. All twenty eight members of the SOF were highly trained officers in the United States military, there were simply no exceptions. Every member held the minimum requirement of 2nd Lieutenant or Ensign with in the Navy. Some of the most brilliant minds to do the jobs that simply no other military force in the world could do.

"So..." Stein broke the silence between themselves "We've assembled most of our men it seems, what is next?" He looked directly towards Mifune who was dumbfounded.

"Lieutenant General Stein, we're meeting here today just to simply clarify that we all know the risks of taking this assignment, for any of you who have joined the SOF that are not four starred already, you may never see that promotion for the rest of your career." Mifune started, nervous but determined "This job is not a glorious one, so if you're looking for fame you might as well leave now, if you're here simply for the pay grade, you may want to look elsewhere."

"We have a small twenty eight person team and six generals within the military are working cooperatively in this project. We have special tasks, privileges, and much more to discuss. Our first priority however should be to acquaint our teams. Shall we start?" Mifune finished, looking at the table.

"I'll begin." Stein spoke, "My team consists of my Ranger battalion; Captain Maka Albarn, 2nd Lieutenant Patricia Thompson, 2nd Lieutenant Colin Plach, and 2nd Lieutenant Ox Ford. All exceptional soldiers and all are battle tested with two of which being a part of the Supernova task force." He finished shuffling through files in front of him.

"My team consists of four extremely skilled pilots" Major General Ren Newton spoke with a slight accent "All of them are the rank of 2nd Lieutenant; Jordan Black, Howard Reagan, Christopher Castillo and Victor Penrose." He finished and looked towards Mifune and Soul.

"I'll speak for Mifune, we have a special set of operators, three of ours were involved in Operation Supernova; Lieutenant Brandon Stern, Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexi Ash, Chief Warrant Officer Grade 4 Cal Burn, Ensign Adrian Miles, Ensign Marcus Peters, Ensign Tanner Dillon, Ensign Jonathon Chambers, and Ensign James Winstead. All were a part of the infamous team 6 within the Navy Seals." He locked eyes with Stein across the table. "I am Rear Admiral Sullivan Evans and beside me is Admiral Mifune Leon."

"I feel like after this meeting we need to introduce our teams to each other, especially if they'll be working with one another for the rest of their careers. SOF is for life right?" Stein chuckled as he closed his file and stood up to stretch his legs.

The six men concluded their brief meeting, not much else was mentioned over than a brief meet and greet, this was the first time many of them would be working together after all. After training their teams to work together, they will have to prepare for any and all missions that may come their way. Due to the nature of their force, the missions will never be glamorous or pretty, they're get ugly and they're do so very quick. They all know the chance of losing a member of the team is very high, even in the training they are all about to undergo.

* * *

AN: I feel like this story is going to turn incredibly dark sooner than later, feel free to review and leave some constructive criticism as always it's appreciated!

Thanks!

-Jett


	5. Operational First Day

xXx

Six months have passed since the initial meeting of the SOF, they have come a long way. Grueling rage induced training, and so much to show. They quickly became the most feared as well as the most respected special forces unit with in the world. Every member has since dropped rank upon entering the door. The only thing that distinguishes them is the color of their beret, and the insignia of the "Reaper's Skull" otherwise known as Death's patch. Purple, or the color of the commanding figures within the SOF. Navy blue, for the squadron leaders or senior members. Yellow for anyone holding a special defined skill and lastly gray for the normal operators that make up the remaining team. They had adapted the white beret for anyone who has enrolled in the process of trying out for a position within the team.

They dawned a very unique uniform, when they were not in the field they wore all black fatigues even officers never wearing dress uniform. They did not comply to any of the modern military uniform standards or codes. They were supremely impervious to any other officer within the military. Many disapproved of this action taken by the Chief of Naval Special Forces Operations, and soon to retire Admiral Clark. However Clark's reign of terror wouldn't end there as he was currently running for a very important spot in this upcoming election. He was currently the man to vote for as of the latest pole. He was running for a chance to become the President of the United States, granted he would have very limited power within the military if his plan were to come true, but he wouldn't lose all control like he would have otherwise.

* * *

Soul could remember the first time they were out off the base since training, Maka and Soul were both dressed in full SOF uniform, black fatigues and color coordinated berets. The looks they received from civilians were shocking, they hadn't heard of this new special forces team as of yet, but to the politicians and the military personnel that they came into contact with off of Clark Naval Base it was priceless. Officers of any branch of the military would part like the Red Sea for even a gray beret, but seeing a purple and a navy blue beret walking together was quite intimidating as most seemed to think.

None of the SOF took this power for granted and often never wanted to exploit it, as it was an unwritten rule that if a member of the force were to use his special given powers for personal gain or unjust reasons they would be given a court martial and immediately barred from the team. To be removed from the SOF would be the ultimate dishonor and they couldn't think of a worse fate other than dying.

They have become one hell of an elite, exclusive, and impressive force. They're nearly governed by their own rule. Every thing was going well of course they haven't even been together for a year yet, it's been training and rule regulations as of late. They haven't even been tasked with their first assignment yet, and they just awaited the Joint Ops Committee to finally speak about their first task.

* * *

"Admiral Leon, Lieutenant General Stein, Major General Newton, and Brigadier General Grieves. We are the joint special operations committee, who you will be receiving special assignments from." The stiff older man growled in his seat, name plate read General Stephen Black Jr. He was the current and only five star flag officer in the United States military and as such held very high authority. He was flanked by Admiral Elizabeth Thompson and General Jackson Carson the senior General within the Air Force.

"Our most troubling operation at the moment is contact missions, we have lost all contact to Germany after the massive backlash of Operation Supernova and Operation Sundown. We can only imagine that the United Nations may have overrun the country." The gruff tone from General Black Jr was the only sound resonating in the room. "They are a valuable ally to us, we cannot afford to let them fall to any foreign operation. We are putting boots on the group in Berlin."

"A standing army of around fifty thousand soldiers, as of saying this, we can confirm that the UN does hold boots on the western skirt of the country, but we cannot confirm they have entered any further into the country. The German standing army is quite small since their disarmament five years ago. All communications are down and we can only assume they've been forced into a black out." He shuffled through papers "You are to meet with General Sauer, the commanding officer of their Army."

"All details will be in the files provided to your teams and yourselves, any questions concerning this operation can be addressed towards Admiral Mark Clayton. This operation will commence in 72 hours, you have until then to get the briefing done. Now go!" He yelled as the officers rushed from the chambers.

* * *

-15 Minutes until Operation-

"We're going in to a potential war zone, safeties on until I give the say so!" Star screamed over the engine carrying the SOF team. "This is a 16 man operation, there is no room for error, we could be facing as many as five hundred soldiers, with a standing army of fifty thousand."

"Maka, you take the Army team with the Marines and head south towards the rendezvous point" Star going one last time over the plans, "I will take the Navy team southeast of your location and circle around towards the rendezvous while gathering intel."

"Any questions?" He finishes looking around at the faces, this is the first operation they've been assigned. No need to screw it up now.

"None at all.." Maka rang in, she had been quiet the entire time, during briefing and even during their ride. Nerves were getting to all of them, American boots haven't been Germany for an active military operation since World War 2, not counting the mini scale Sundown and Supernova operations. The United States didn't even have any active military bases stationed there anymore.

"Alright, then let's waste no more time." Star stated grinning as he looked down seeing the ground approaching "Boots on the ground! Go, go, go!" Star screamed, as the door swung open every operator rushing into the open air. Warm and humid air hit them as they exited into the overcast sun lit sky.

Star and his team chambered their first rounds into their guns and unlocked the safety and began moving rapidly to the southeast. Maka's team took the more cautious approach and kept safeties on and steadily moved south, they weren't far from their rendezvous point. Star's team had to move quicker to cover more ground and make their objective at roughly the same amount of time. Maka had the easier job, a straight and direct approach to their target and minimal offsets. Her mind was racing as she and her Marine counter part Lieutenant Wolfe headed their group.

* * *

The commanders of the SOF stood in a monitoring room, GPS tracked their team and they had limited contact with their team other than that. Soul and Mifune watched their Navy team intently, they didn't think making contact would be a rather difficult mission. They now knew that the UN forces have forced the entire country into a state of blacked out communications. They also knew that their forces were situated in the western parts of the country. Hoping they hadn't made their move further inward.

Stein and Butte watched the secondary Army and Marine team moving much more slowly than the first time, Stein was quickly making notes of the mission progress. Butte was more intently watching the entire screen than either party and he was more worried than any of the other commanding officers. Brigadier General Grieves and Brigadier General Richardson, the Marine commanders of the SOF were sitting behind the rest of the group idly chatting about something unimportant to the mission.

"Don't you guys have any concern over this operation? Seriously how the fuck did you make it to your ranks and get this prestigious assignment." Soul turned around towards the two Marine generals seething, his temper was reaching a boiling point. "You're fuckin' despicable..."

"Admiral Evans...we don't see a point to be watching a screen with dots intently, we can see the helmet cams, if something catches our attention they we'll worry. This is even more than routine and utterly boring..." Grieves groaned as he looked towards the monitors for the first time since the beginning of the mission.

Mifune scoffed at the notion that the Marines were so undisciplined than they were, they come from the same branch heritage and to see them lacking the motivation to even care for their comrades was disgusting. Stein looked towards the two men after hearing their conversation with Soul, his eyes were trained on the two men. He turned slightly in his chair to look at them more directly now, making the men stir nervously.

"I suggest you get your priorities straight, unless you want lose your rank and titles." Stein hissed through his teeth. As he tapped on his wristwatch, motioning to the others that time was coming close. "Suit up guys...we'll be going in, less than two hours."

* * *

Maka's team could see the building now, plainly in sight. There was no incidents in the small distance they traveled, no civilians, no police, nothing. It was quiet and devoid. She hoped they weren't too late to make a difference, she could see Star's group closing in from the east. It was time to move in on the objective hoping to make contact with their informant.

The Army and Marine team moved in slowly towards the building where their contact should be located, it was a plain looking building nothing too out of the ordinary. Maka could see Star from her peripheral. He and his team were moving at a more brisk pace, they had already entered the building from the side and were making their way through to the front entrance. Everything was going well and smooth until they heard a faint but audible click. Maka and her group froze, they frantically looked around and couldn't see any signs of a trap but none the less they were frozen to that single point.

Glancing down the hallway they could see a rather large staircase, and a lit corridor that Star's group was coming from. No one dared move, the silence was deafening and she couldn't tell where the mechanism was, She looked to Free, her long time friend and second in command of her group. Eyes pleading for some sort of answer, his were looking back towards her as he shifted his weight with a saddening expression on his face.

Free was a demolitions expert and he knew that the mechanism was triggered by them, but there wasn't an explosive device where they were at. He could faintly make out the origin of the IED, but by the time he had shifted his weight it was too little too late. The explosion hit the building, it wasn't anything they hadn't seen or experienced before, but looking down towards the corridor that Star and his group were located and seeing debris, smoke, and flames spurting their guts began to roll.

* * *

Jolted back to reality after their confrontation with the lazy Marine Flag Officers, they looked to the screen to see the chaos that was the entirety of Star's group vanishing off the grid. Just like that presumably eight Navy Seal operators had just perished.

"Team 1 Sound off!" Soul screamed in the ear pieces of all the operators. "God damn it! Team 2 move in, move in!" Barking orders was something Soul wasn't accustomed to, but he urgently needed to know what happened to the eight men.

Mifune looked towards the other men in the room and slowly stood up motioning for Soul and the others to do the same. Mifune, Stein, Soul, and Butte stood slowly but there wasn't any choice they couldn't sit and look at screens anymore. They paced themselves out of the observation room and into the hallway down towards the armory and helipad.

"What's the plan Mifune?" Stein looked towards the young Admiral with curiosity in his eyes. "You can't just go waltzing into an active zone with no plan."

"If I recall you did that in Afghanistan, when we were under heavy fire and injured." Soul deadpanned towards the General, only to receive a smirk from him.

* * *

"Star!" Maka screamed desperately as her team approached the corridor. There was no response desperation grew intense, the silence was deafening. The only sounds were the rubble crumbling beneath their boots.

"Call out!" Free screamed into the wrecked corridor as they halted their advance. Still nothing, they could only imagine the worst.

"Star" "Fire" "Caliber" "Saturn" "Marker" "Saint" "Arc" "Stark" The team two names were rattled off one after another by the respective member, everyone had made it through the explosion.

"Maka! We're fine, it hit a bit a head of us we're just bruised and scrapped up. Not to mention quite a bit disoriented.." Star groaned as his team emerged from the crumbling hallway. "I think the blast knocked out a lot of our electronics."

Star and his team began checking their equipment, piece by piece. They found no faults. The mission would proceed as planned. Star signaled to the team to advance on the stairs, both teams this time would be incredibly careful with their steps. Quickly but carefully they marched up the staircase in front of them. Second floor, third floor, fourth floor, fifth, sixth, and finally seventh. Their VIP was on this floor or hopefully was.

They rounded the corner, tactical formation thrown out the window. They rushed the door, locked and loaded safeties off. Breaching the door and kicking It ferociously, a brutal and bloody sight in front of them. There they saw the General hung from the rafters throat slit, rib cage split open. Eye lids removed and tongue gone.

The stench of blood filled the room and the pool was still wet. It was a horrific view none of the operators have ever seen before. Maka turned away quickly covering her face and nose. Star stood there mouth agape, many of the others couldn't process the mess that was before them.

"Control" Silence greeted Star as he tried to reach his commanders "We have a situation."

"Star pull out, the situation has escalated to a full blown war." Soul's voice came over comm "Regulars are being sent in, I repeat you are to evac."

* * *

AN: Unravel wasn't meant to be a long story as by chapter five the end is already quickly approaching. Sad to say however there will not be a continuation from this story, so enjoy the last chapters. As always reviews are always welcome it helps me to become a better author.

Thanks!

-Jett


	6. Unravel

xXx

One month's time has passed, since their initial first mission. The SOF was now deep into the war inside of Germany. Mission after mission, there was no rest for the wicked and in their profession they were the most. In just a single month their ranks have been thinned from sixteen to just seven. The missions have been so tight that Soul and Mifune have given up their ranks and come back to the active battlefield, leaving Stein in command of the entire operation.

The only people to survive this grueling war have been; Mifune, Soul, Brandon, Alexi, Maka, Patti, and Fremont. They lost seven just in the initial evac from their first mission. Cal, Ox, Colin, Adrian, Marcus, Tanner, and James. They lost three more after going in to support a group of German soldiers evacuating civilians. Thomas, Dustin, and Jason fought hard. Everything was beginning to unravel before them as they prepared to parachute into no man's land.

* * *

Soul looked over the cabin of their transport plane. He could see the restless faces staring back at him. It didn't matter how good they were at their jobs, when facing an entire army with just seven people it was a suicide mission. They were staring down the barrel of a cannon ready to fire essentially. The SOF squad was being dropped in on the front lines, between the United Nations and the American-German border. It was going to be tense. Their sole mission was to thin the ranks of the UN and cut back into friendly grounds.

The only downfall to that being they were surrounded on all sides, the American-German front was more just a bubble of ten thousand soldiers and the worst part of all was that bubble was nearly ready to pop. When it did there would be numerous casualties and no one could stop it. They were being pressured by nearly sixty thousand United Nations forces. It was a simple fact that the United States didn't have the money to mobilize all of their troops.

Derrick Clark and Frank Stein were pleading with many non-affiliated countries to help the effort, but most was in vein. They have reached out to Russia, China, Brazil, Canada, and many others to no avail. It was left for one was do or die mission to use their hidden invention. It was an orbital bomber, that required laser designation of less than ten feet.

The SOF was tasked with this mission. Of course saying that they would have to be dropped within a half mile of their designated point and then make their way on foot to plant their device to signal the bomber. It sounded easy on paper, but it couldn't be more insane in application.

The white haired sniper looked out the small window beside him he could see the sun had nearly set and they were nearing their target. It was nearly time but they needed to be more than careful. They didn't want to lose anyone at all, especially not before they even got their boots on the ground.

* * *

"Hey Star..." Maka looked towards her newly considered friend, "If we succeed do you think we'll be able to finally take a break?" She laughed dryly.

"I wish there a possibility...but if we actually manage to not fuck this up it could be the turning point for the war." Soul droned out as he looked over his weapon.

"If wish you could be more optimistic Soul...It is really hard to think of this any other way without you being so negative." The blonde sighed sliding down in her very hard and uncomfortable seat.

"Guys! It will be fine! I'm godly enough to succeed on this mission by myself! I am your vice squad commander after all!" Star finally opened his mouth, receiving a grin from everyone except for Mifune and Fremont.

"Star, you'll never change will you? You've been like this since our first mission way back." Soul was grinning, shark teeth showing. Although he was speaking to Star he was looking Maka directly in the eyes.

"Well I have to be cocky..." Star scratched the back of his head "I do carry the most gear in the entire squad. Twelve knives, a heavy machine gun, two thousand rounds, six pistols, and two magazines for each pistol." He boasted, pounding on his chest. "I do carry around two hundred pounds worth of weapons after all." He scoffed.

"I still don't know how you dive with that huge ass thing attached to you Star." Soul stated bluntly.

"Looks like it's about that time people.." Mifune finally broke into the conversation "Are we ready to drop?"

* * *

The rush of diving out of a plane at thirty thousand feet was something a soldier never lost. Even after doing it over a hundred times in just training. The SOF weren't beginners at free falling either. However a dark dive was one of the most dangerous thing they could ever imagine, but it had to be done. Twenty thousand feet, their parachutes come open. This was a high altitude high opening jump, or HAHO for short.

They raced through the open air, cold was the first thing that came to mind. The temperatures up this high were nearly forty below zero. Frostbite was a very real threat, not to mention hypoxia, but that was without explanation. They were twenty thousand feet in the air and there was very little oxygen in their environment.

Soul took the point as he guided his comrades slowly to the ground. They were fighting passing out, and the bitter cold that was diving through the night air at high altitude. He glanced back towards his comrades as they filed in behind him slowly descending. He tugged on the strings to steer his parachute towards their landing zone.

Below them it was clearly visible where no man's land was, it was a barren and devoid of much vegetation. Craters in the middle marked explosions that missed the opposing sides. Dim lights marking the different sides of the battle ground. They were closing in rapidly now, the whistling in their ears grew as the ground became more apparent in their views. They were parachuting into what used to be Nuremberg, a war torn ghost of a city like much of Germany. There were plenty of casualties spread throughout the country civilians and soldiers alike. It was a depressing thought to know the casualties that the SOF suffered didn't even make up a percent of the life lost between the main forces and civilians.

They were in for a hard landing, as they broke tension and landed on the ground rolling. All seven members of the SOF successfully landed one after the other. They were already prepping for combat, and knew it wouldn't be easy as they made their way west towards the United Nations border of no man's land.

* * *

A long and arduous hour had passed, they were approaching their target. So far this had been the perfect mission, not a single alarm raised and no shots fired. It almost seemed as if the war was in ceasefire at the moment. They knew better than that however, as they could see guards positions around at checkpoints. As well as the main force up and ready. It was only temporary, at least this battle was not being fought in trenches.

The black clad, squad moved silently through to the first checkpoint as Soul took aim with the help of Alexi and Maka on their first target, stealth was the goal. Something the very seasoned sniper would make happen as he chambered the round into his rifle, silenced. One click, two clicks as he dialed in the scope. His finger wrapped around the trigger and he slowly squeezed. Feeling the jolt of the rifle and the audible scream of the suppressor. One down as they advanced.

They passed by the now vacant guard tower, with the finesse and profile of ghosts. Not a single sound escaped their lips, only hand signals. They swiftly moved through the ranks of the United Nations front line base. As they came to a guard patrol circle the outer compound. They counted eight guys making their round. A normal night patrol team, nothing out of the normal that they could see. They quickly moved in to strike, they only needed to move in about one hundred more meters.

Silencer's on and safeties off, they moved in behind the patrol team hoping to not have to fire a round. They come up behind the group, as a muffled shot comes from their left hand side, as one of the guards falls. This was the most inopportune time to receive help from the regular troops if it were even one of them. Lights flicked on throughout the base, and the sirens were sent into a frenzy as soldiers began mobilizing into position as quickly as possible. They managed to keep a low profile and were able to hide within a small unit storage area as the fighting began between the two forces once more.

The SOF team was pinned deep within the enemy territory, this life or death mission has just turned into a death wish. Soul dropped his rifle quickly in exchange for an M4 carbine rifle, something he was quite familiar with. They would have to prepare to fight for their lives at a moments notice, as they slowly inched out of their hiding spot and around the far end of the complex, mostly undetected.

* * *

They had managed to slip through most of the guard spots as every soldier was currently engaged on the front, they were within ten meters of their target as Mifune withdrew the targeting device from his small pack. Flipping the switch, after activation of the device they would have thirty minutes to evacuate from the area and get to safety which was currently a war zone. The squad commander threw the device towards the heart of the base as the team disregarded stealth at this point and began to run towards safe haven.

The sounds of gun fire and ricochets dulled out much of any other sounds that could be heard. Once they broke through the minor buildings behind where the primary gunfights were happening it would be a total free for all. The remaining seven SOF members would be fighting for their own survival. No one else came before them this time, in now less than thirty minutes one of the largest single bombs would be hitting the surface of this battleground. It would surely even be felt form the other side of the zone as well. If they didn't make it at least a half safe distance away they would be kissing their asses goodbye.

* * *

Twenty seven minutes ticked by, they were no where near their destination, still inside enemy territory. They've burned through most of their ammunition. Resorting to primarily side arms and knives at this point. Mifune and Star were leading the way power housing their way through enemy after enemy. Alexi, Fremont, and Patti were working hard to keep the rear well defender, as Soul and Maka were taking targets out on their flanks.

They were fighting with every ounce of energy left in their body. Blood, sweat, and tears were being shed on this mission, they had just under a kilometer left to cover in under three minutes. They were slowly coming to the realization that it was not possible to escape the blast range. The fire fight was beginning to die down towards the main fronts, but their battle was anything but over. Just then Soul looked behind them to see Alexi fall to the ground, blood spraying from the side of his face. There were only six of them left now.

He then felt a searing pain in his right arm, as he saw the blood dripping down his wrist and on to the dirt below. He had been hit as well. Not seriously but even to hurt like hell. He looked towards Maka with a soft plea in his eyes, as he glanced down at his watch, one minute eighteen seconds. They were still two hundred meters out. He shook his head sadly as he looked towards the front two. Brandon was falling to the ground clutching his leg and shoulder. He fell face first to the ground after one more strike was delivered to his neck.

He looked towards the back again and didn't see Fremont anywhere, Patti was frantically fighting for her life, he could see her left side was riddled with bullets. He looked back towards the front of their group, receiving a thumbs up from Mifune who was dragging Star's body behind him. Soul looked to his wrist once more, attempting to wipe the blood off to see the time. Twenty two seconds, he looked towards Maka and grabbed her by the shoulder throwing her to the ground and shielding her body with his.

He looked up towards the sky just in time to see the ten ton bomb falling from the sky. He quickly looked towards his watch one last time as all hope drained from his being; three, two, one. As the bomb detonated just meters above the surface of the ground.

* * *

The dust and smoke cleared as the blackness of the everything was showing, the strike was a success. 98% percent of the enemy forces were crushed, as the United Nations were pulling out of Germany, the United States had won the battle and most certainly the war with the unveiling of their new weapon. Although, at what cost, casualties on both sides were massive, the bombs shock wave even penetrated the American's front causing many injuries and a few fatalities.

However, as the dust cleared over the front lines Soul's formerly lifeless body began to stir. His eyes opened slowly looking around surveying the damage, to see if any had survived. He saw the remnants of what used to be the compound that they had infiltrated. He saw bodies everywhere, none of them he recognized. He slowly sat up feeling something under him, he looked down to see Maka, who was intact. She appeared to be unharmed, ash blonde hair still shining underneath the blanket of ash and dust. He ran his fingers through her hair, letting his hand rest on her cheek.

Much to his Soul's surprise the blonde began to stir, as she was slowly coming back to life. Emerald met ruby as she smiled towards him, her hand coming up to meet his face sweetly. Softly caressing him. Soul leaned down to Maka, he was only inches from her, he closed the remaining gap quickly. Pressing his lips firmly against her's. It was a quick and chaste kiss, he rose back from her and looked down to the blonde beneath him.

"I've wanted to do that for so long...I just never had a good chance.." Soul whispered still staring into her eyes. He slowly closed his as he fell backwards onto the ground behind them.

* * *

AN: Here is the final chapter, I hope it was worth the wait. I have a couple new projects on the horizon but nothing is definite right now. They can be expected as early as the end of this month or closer to December. I'm feeling like it'll be the closer to late October early November. Anyhow, reviews are always appreciated.

Thank you for the ride with What We Must Endure and now Unravel. These stories were fun to write, and I accumulated over twenty pages in notes!

Thanks Again!

-Jett


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